If all it took to upend the status quo was the truth

Posted on January 16, 2019 by Barry

“If all it took to upend the status quo was the truth, we would have changed a long time ago.”

—Seth Godin, American Author

In Seth Godin’s newest book, This is Marketing, he suggests that to be effective, all marketers must have the courage to create tension. Some people actively seek tension because it works to push or pull those we hope to serve over the gap from the present to a better future.

For those who resist change and prefer the relative comfort of the status quo, these influences/marketing messages fall on deaf ears. In such cases, the truth does not set us free, for fear of whatever future we wish to avoid.

Godin suggests that the status quo doesn’t shift because something is true, it shifts because culture changes, and the engine of culture is status.

EXERCISE:

Examine where you and others in your personal and professional communities embrace change and find yourself open and receptive to the abundance of marketing messages coming your way. Where might saying yes and embracing such new ways of thinking or acting improve your status?

The great secret about goals and visions

Posted on January 15, 2019 by Barry

“The great secret about goals and visions is not the future they describe, but the change in the present they engender.”

—David Allen, American Productivity Consultant

Image of a circle of people looking down at the camera

Image from Unslpash by RawPixel

I hope you had a very happy holiday season, and that your new year is off to an outstanding start. Perhaps you are like most of us in that you set about to revisit your visions for the new year, and establish “stretch” goals for where you see yourself professionally and personally.

What progress, skills, habits, and achievements will put a big smile on your face? Perhaps most importantly, what daily changes will be required to realize what you deeply desire?

David Allen suggests, in today’s quote, that our visions and goals provide the leverage of our commitment to changing our present actions that will have us realize the futures we desire.

EXERCISE:

Consider displaying the following quote by Tuli Kupferberg in your personal or professional environment as a daily reminder to tap into one of the secrets to a better future:

“When patterns are broken, new worlds will emerge.”

Also consider writing it with the second part first:

“New worlds will emerge when patterns are broken.”

You don’t need clarity on the rest of your life

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Barry

“You don’t need clarity on the rest of your life, just on what’s next in your life.”

—Sam Horn, Motivational Keynote Speaker

Image created in Canva

In my Coaching Discovery process, I ask prospective clients to rate their level of agreement, on a scale of one (low) to five (high), with the following statement:

“I have a clear view of where I am and where I want to go in life.”

Virtually no one rates themselves five, and most give themselves a score of three or less.

Sam Horn suggests, on one of her recent posts, that we can all use what she calls “The Four I’s” to add greater clarity to navigating a more fulfilling and successful life. They are:

Instincts: What does your gut say?
Interests: What are your talents, skills, and unique abilities?
Integrity: What life choices are most aligned with your core values and priorities?
Initiative: How can you proactively reach out to an individual or organization that is doing work you admire and respect?

EXERCISE:

Explore The Four I’s with a coach, close friend, or professional colleague whose perspective you value to help you see more clearly what’s next for you.

Friday Review on Preparation

Posted on January 11, 2019 by Barry

FRIDAY REVIEW: PREPARATION

Are you prepared? Here are a few posts related to preparation you may have missed. Click to read the full message.

“I will prepare and someday, my chance will come.”

“You can’t reach for anything new if your hands are still full of yesterday’s junk.”

“If there is a single lesson that life teaches us, it’s that wishing doesn’t make it so.”

It’s better to bite your tongue than to eat your words

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Barry

“It’s better to bite your tongue than to eat your words.”

—Frank Sonnenberg, business expert and author

Image created in Canva

An important aspect of the coaching process is to significantly increase the self awareness and mindfulness capacities of our clients. With this in mind, listening and paying attention to our inner voices and words before they are put out into the world seems to be wise counsel.

Consider just how much negativity, judgement, and criticism you hear throughout your days. How much do you find yourself contributing to this in your personal or professional communities?

EXERCISE:

Where would biting your tongue and taking an “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all” approach prevent you from eating your words?

Try using the acronym W.A.I.T.: Why. Am. I. Talking. – as a technique to keep your negative inner voice on mute more often.

One of life’s small pleasures is to return something to its proper place

Posted on January 9, 2019 by Barry

“One of life’s small pleasures is to return something to its proper place.”

—Gretchen Rubin, American author and speaker

Image from Unsplash by Florian Klauer

I am an Amazon Prime subscriber. One of my most common purchases, as you may know from reading The Quotable Coach blog, is books.

One of the criteria I use to confirm my instincts about a purchase is the number of high review scores on Amazon.

To receive over one hundred is respectable; over 500 is quite significant. To have over 1,000 is remarkable given the abundance of books and our reasonably short span of interest.

The book, “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” has over 13,000 reviews. Over 80% of them are four or five star ratings. They must be on to something!

EXERCISE:

Where and in what ways could bringing a bit more order into your world increase your life satisfaction and happiness? Of course, please investigate the excellent work by Gretchen Rubin, including The Happiness Project, which has over 1,600 reviews, of which 79% are four or five stars.

So removing vitamin E from its context within plant foods

Posted on January 8, 2019 by Barry

“So removing vitamin E from its context within plant foods is like sending a general into battle without any troops.”

—T. Collin Campbell, American Biochemist

Image from Unsplash by Anna Pelzer

One of the most interesting and valuable books I have read this year is “Whole” by T. Collin Campbell. His notoriety in the field of whole food nutrition was advanced significantly through the famous China Study. In this research, he demonstrate dramatically lower incidences of significant disease states such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

A key from his more recent studies is that selecting individual or small groups of food components such as individual vitamins as a magic bullet to health is inappropriate and can even be dangerous. Optimal health, he strongly suggests, depends on a symphony of food elements interacting with our own symphony of bodily processes.

Unfortunately, telling someone to eat fruits and veggies doesn’t feed the economic engines of our medical, pharmaceutical, and food manufacturing industries.

EXERCISE:

Beyond my suggestion to read this important book how can you incorporate far more whole foods as an army to fight disease and support a longer and healthier life?

There is no greater education than one that is self-driven

Posted on January 7, 2019 by Barry

“There is no greater education than one that is self-driven.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson, American Astrophysicist

Image from Unsplash by Glenn Carstens-Peters

Elementary school, middle school, high school, and college are what we call traditional education. If you were lucky, perhaps your upbringing included books, encyclopedias, and of course, highly committed parents who emphasized education as a key doorway to a bright future.

For many, once we complete our traditional education, we slow down or even stop our efforts for continuous learning. Somehow that song, “No more teachers, no more books, no more teacher’s dirty looks” was ingrained in us, and we decided we were finished.

EXERCISE:

Consider yourself as your own home-schooling professor, creating the perfect curriculum just for you. The topics you choose are both important and relevant to a fully engaged and happy life. What could this self-driven education include that would result in a PhD in Thee?